As computers have developed to provide greater capabilities at greater speeds, the techniques for interacting with computers have also become much simpler. For example, icons provide pictorial representations of functions which may be executed by a computer and which allow a user to easily access a function with a simple click of a mouse or a stroke of a keyboard key. Icons, while providing an understandable interface, still require the user to perform a step of opening a window before additional information may be gained or functions may be performed. Furthermore, while icons provide pictorial representations of an application or even a memory sub-system, such as a disk drive, an icon is not able to provide additional information about an object with which it corresponds. To access such information, an external user must open a window corresponding to the icon and pull down a menu which allows for an eventual disclosure of the information, or type "dir" to determine information about the application or object referred to by the icon.
In addition to icons, many current software programs use realistic representations of objects to take advantage of a user's experience with the physical world. Therefore, rather than present the user with a series of panels and window frames or pull-down menus, a software program for implementing an application may present a realistically-rendered object which is placed directly on a desktop or other environment. While such realistic representations enable a user to more easily interface with the computer, the applications which implement the realistically-rendered objects are limited by the protocols required by a development system in which the object is implemented.
These limitations are especially apparent in filing systems in an operating system. Most filing protocols implemented in data processing systems require a number of steps to be executed before a certain file or information concerning a file may be accessed. Stated another way, when an object is filed in a storage space of a data processing system, the storage space must often be opened and the user must delve several levels into the interface before the object may be accessed. Users must also perform multiple steps to access information about the stored objects. An example of this is illustrated by the steps the user must perform before a user is able to determine how much disk space is currently available. In today's implementations, a user is forced to either select a "drive space manager" which is several levels deep in the interface or access a command line, type "dir", and wait for the contents of a directory to scroll by on a display device before being able to determine how much disk space is left within that directory. Each of the steps required to obtain access to a storage space or information about a storage space is time intensive and requires an external user to execute an undue number of steps before receiving a desired outcome.
Additionally, current data processing implementations may implement a "status line" mechanism to allow an external user to access information regarding memory in the data processing system. Examples of such implementations are "File Manager" in Windows by Microsoft and "Windows Explorer" by Microsoft. However, like the information accessing mechanisms previously discussed, use of the status line requires several steps and may only be accessed after delving several layers deep in the graphical user interface in which it is implemented. As previously described, this requirement is often time intensive and requires a significant number of steps for a user to perform.
Therefore, a need exists for a filing system in a data processing system which does not require a user to traverse several levels of an interface before they receive the information they desire. Rather, a filing system which is more closely analogous to a real-world object which allows for immediate access of information should be provided.